Improvement in the manufacture of spoons, forks



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL JOSEPH FLEE'IWOOD, OF BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SPOONS, FORKS, 80C.

Specification forming 'part of Letters Patent No. 56,337, dated July 10, 1866.

To all'whom it 'may concern:

Beitknown that I, DANIEL JOsEPH ELEET- WOOD, of Birmingham, in the count-y of Warwick and Kingdom of England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture of Spoons, Forks, and other Similar Articles 5 and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figures l and 2 represent face views of the two parts ofthe die. Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the same, the line x x, Figs. l and 2,indi eatin g the plane of section. Fig. 4 is a similar section of the same, the plane of section being indicated by the line yy, Figs. l and 2. Fig, 5 is a front elevation of the press which I use for compressing the dies. Fig. 6 is a transverse vertical section of the same, the line z z, Fig. 5, indicating the plane of section. Fig. 7 is a horizontal section of the same, taken in the plane indicated by the line fr x', Fig. 5. Fig. v

S is a longitudinal section of the die-holder in a larger scale than Figs. 5, 6, and 7, the line y y', Fig. 9, indicating the plane of section. Fig. 9 is an end view of the same. Fig. l0 is a plan or top view of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

This invention relates to certain improvements in the operations of shaping, bowling, and finishing spoons, or of shaping, pronging, and finishing forks, which improvements are also applicable for performing analogous operations upon other articles of similar character.

In carrying out my invention I proceed from that stage at which the article under operation-for instance, a spoonis in the form of a rough flat blank, if rolled, or a roughlyshaped blank, if cast metal be used. I iirst produce, if necessary, a smooth surface on the blank by iilin g or grinding, or I merely cleanse oft` the scale or dirt by dipping in the ordinary manner in acid, and if it be a rolled blank I now cut it out by using a punch and bed, differing from the ordinary bed and punch only in the fact that it is of a form to give the requisite contour to the handle, and also the concavity to the bowl, or, in the case of forks, pronging them. If the blank be of cast metal this operation is, of course, dispensed with, the

form being produced by the casting. Should any burr or fin remain after the cutting-out operation it must be iled or ground oi'. The next process is that of finishing, which l effect in a pair of tools or dies, AB, sunk to receive the blank, and with patterns or devices of any kind required to be produced upon the fmished article, which will come from the operation beveled, threaded, or otherwise Ornamented. The tools or dies used in this process are peculiarly formed, as shown in Figs. l to 4, inclusive. They are so shaped that each of the tools is partly die and partly matriX-that is to say, the entire size and thickness of the handleis cut in the lower tool, A, and the entire bowl in the upper tool,B, or vice versa, so that very slight fins or burrs remain to be removed, and these always on the edge or arris of the article, instead of midway of its thickness. These tools may also be employed for cutting out, if preferred, by allowing the edges of the sinking to meet, and thus one operation may be dispensed with.

The power employed may be a stamp, a hammer, or a press operating upon any number of pairs of dies. I prefer the hydraulic press with an accumulator, affording great power with rapidity of stroke, and in using it I place my` dies in die-holders O, or frames. (Shown in Figs. 7, 8, 9, and 10.) The bottom die is securely held by set-screws s, and the top guide is guided by screws t, whereby said die is capable of nice adjustment, being governed by the wedges c (see Fig. 8) and setscrews b, and thus admitting of several pairs of dies, in which there may be some slight variation of thickness, 'being put into the press at the same time and receiving their pinch simultaneously.

The die-holder, with its dies, is then placed in a slide, c, in which condition it is removed to the press and secured to the platen, which is provided with grooves d, (see Fig. 7,) to receive four (more Or less) slides with their respective die frames and dies, these being moved as nearly as may be to the center of the platen.

The press being put in operation the four sets of dies receive equal pressure at one mo- 2. The die-holder C, With set-screws s t and ment. Loopsf serve to withdraw the dies and Wedges a, in combination with tools B, condie-framcs when the pressure is taken off. Structed and operating` substantially as and for What I claim as new, and desire to secure the purpose set forth.

by Letters Patent is 3 1 l. The'cmployment or use, in the manufac- DANIEL JOSEl H FLELTWOOD' ture of spoons, forks, and other articles, of Witnesses:

tools B, each of which is partly die and partly ELIHU BURRITT,

matrix, substantially as and for the purposes U. S. Consular Agent. described. WM. SADMAN FoULKEs. 

